Ford recalling 391,000 Ranger pickups over Takata airbags

The Ford Ranger is the latest vehicle affected by Takata's massive airbag recall.

Handout, Ford

One fatality is linked to Ford's latest recall, affecting 2004 to 2006 Ranger pickups in the U.S. and Canada

by
Staff, The Associated Press | January 26, 2016

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Ford is recalling nearly 391,000 Ranger pickups because the driver’s airbag inflators can explode with too much force and cause injuries.

The recall covers trucks from the 2004 through 2006 model years in the U.S. and Canada. It comes just days after the government announced that 52-year-old Joel Knight of South Carolina was killed when an inflator exploded in December; he was struck in the neck by metal shrapnel as his 2006 Ranger hit a cow in the road and struck a fence.

The government says automakers will recall another 5 million vehicles equipped with faulty inflators made by Takata. Some of the recalls are because of the crash that killed Knight, with the rest due to airbags failing in lab tests.

Other automakers are expected to announce more recalls soon as the Takata airbag mess continues to grow. It now covers 14 manufacturers and totals about 24 million vehicles. The U.S. NHTSA says the number of recalls is likely to expand further.

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Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to cause a small explosion that creates gas and inflates airbags in a crash, but the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high heat and humidity, causing it to burn too fast and blowing apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion. Knight is the 10th known death worldwide due to the inflators and more than 100 people have been hurt.

Ford says it will send letters to owners about the recall starting the week of Feb. 22. Although it has some replacement parts available, the company is working with airbag makers to make additional inflators as soon as possible, spokesman John Cangany said.

Knight hit the cow at about 6:20 p.m. on South Carolina Route 522, not far from Columbia. If not for the inflator rupture, the crash would have been moderate and wouldn’t have killed him, said Amanda Dotter, spokeswoman for the law firm representing Knight’s family.